By Alphonsus Nweze, Onitsha
Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has been called on to sack the Chairman of Onitsha South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Chief Emeka Orji, for allegedly ridiculing the Anambra State House of Assembly over their ruling on the demolition of a property at Fegge, Onitsha belonging to business man, Chief Sabest Uzoeto.
Sabest
Speaking to journalists, yesterday, both the businessman and his lawyer, Pete Akabuaso, claimed that Chief Orji is not the proper person to be the Mayor of a very important Local Government Area like Onitsha South in Anambra State.
“The Governor should look into this matter and remove him. He has done so much damage in the Local Government, ” Chief Uzoeto said.
Sabest alleged that Chief Orji and his agents destroyed his property at 39 Silas Work Street, Onitsha and the things in the building which value, he claimed was above N1 billion.
His call stemmed from the ruling of the Anambra State House Assembly which was said to have asked Orji to steer clear from Chief Sabest Uzoeto’ s property at 39 Silas Works Road.
The House was also said to have ordered that Orji should pay damages for the things missing from the demolished property.
But Orji through the Secretary to the Local Government flayed the House of Assembly, saying that they acted sub judice since the matter was in court.
However, Pete Akabuaso, Sabest’s lawyer said as at 5:00pm Friday September 12, 2025, they had not been served with any suit either against them or House of Assembly.
Akabuaso said: “None of the parties has been served with the purported court process. There is no suit because the jurisdiction of the court can only be ignited when the parties have been served with the original process.”
He said the House in their oversight functions received the petition and has given ruling, of which he ( Orji) was part of the hearing process.
The lawyer said the Onitsha South Local Government boss came for the sitting and participated but when he was asked to bring his documents that he couldn’t produce any.
He said under the Land Use Act , it is the State Government, this time the Anambra State Government that owns all the land in the State.
Akabuaso said it is not enough for Orji to cry that the land in question belonged to him without proper inquiry from the Ministry of Lands to authenticate their claim of ownership of the land.
“Up till now there is no document from the Local Government to show that they are the owner of the land, rather what you see at the Land registry are documents authenticating ownership of the land by Sabest Uzoeto, hence these documents were presented to the House of Assembly and they reached a conclusion that the land rightly belongs to Sabest, “Barr. Akabuaso said.
He said Orji kept talking of land grabbing but that it is not within his jurisdiction to talk about land grabbing or not, saying that he has no power under the law to revoke any land.
He said: ” What he did was despicable, the first time I hear that a Chairman of Local Government will come and revoke land. Who gave him the power to revoke land . It is only the Governor of Anambra State who can revoke land documents issued to a citizen for overriding public interest.”
The lawyer said in a sane country the “rascality” of Orji should be a strong reason to remove him from office but he is going about boasting that the matter is pending in Court.
“That is why Anambra State House should move. I think he is a man who does not believe in doing things lawfully. He believes in not doing things the right way. He should be dealt with in accordance with the law, “he said.
